My Only Love and My Only Hate
by The Master Planner
Summary: Austin loves May. May loves Austin. Just one little problem, though: their fathers are mortal enemies. Can a relationship between Dr. Octopus' son and Spiderman's daughter work?
1. Austin

Due to incredible lack of demand, I have felt it necessary to write a sequel to my first fan fiction story, "The Octopus' Spawn." So if you haven't already, try reading it before you continue your journey to this story. I'll wait right here.

You're ready? You've come back? Good. you're going to see more angst, more humor, more Marvel characters, or your money back. Austin Smith, long-lost son of the legendary supervillian Doctor Octopus, is now going to college--and finds himself falling in love with the girl he least expects. Enjoy!

My Only Love and My Only Hate

Chapter 1: Austin

7:00 am. Smith residence, Elsinore, CA

"Do you have everything, Austin?" asked Anna Smith, Esquire, of her only son.

"Hey, did you pack a toothbrush?" asked Samantha Laufey, his aunt.

"Did you get that phone card I gave you?" inquired Rachelle, his cousin.

"Did you pack sweaters? It gets pretty cold in New York," reminded Magni, his fraternal twin sister.

"Geez! I'm going to New York for Chrissakes." Austin held up a sweatshirt and began cutting four large circular holes in the back. His father might have thought it was okay to run around New York City shirtless, but damned if_ he_ was going to. "Not Jupiter or something. Where's the school supplies?" The lid of his suitcase refused to zip up, protesting against the ungodly amount of worldly possessions Austin had stuffed in it. Austin sat on the lid and began bouncing on it.

"Give me that." One of Austin's tentacles reached for the notebooks Magni handed him.

It had been four years.

Four years since Austin Smith, so far raised by his single mother and aunt, found out rather unpleasantly that his biological father was none other than the legendary supervillian Doctor Octopus.

Four years since he was kidnapped by his father and taken to his hideout.

Four years since the accident in which his father's duplicate set of actuators were welded on his body.

Four years since his life changed—forever.

But life goes on, doesn't it?

Austin had graduated from Elsinore High School with honors, became valedictorian, earned a science scholarship, and hadn't killed anyone, in spite of himself.

Okay, so he'd beat up Brandon McCloud and Duke Kelly that one time…but hey, that was once, compared to countless times _they_ had beaten _him_ up over the years. They just got a taste of their own medicine.

Austin began packing the trunk of his car.

**_Where are we going, Brother? _**The tentacles asked inside his head.

_College, in New York._

_**What's college?**_

_I'll explain later. Grab those boxes, will you? _

The tentacles obeyed, wrapping themselves around a box…except for one rouge arm, who had grabbed one flap of the box with a pincer, with disastrous results. Notebooks spilled all over the driveway.

_You idiot! You spilled that box! Clean it up right this minute, and next time, wrap around the box like everyone else!_

_**I am sorry, Brother. I was being stupid.**_

_**What's new, Number Two?**_

Austin tried to shut the trunk of his green Ford Taurus. It wouldn't shut. However, the trunk complied with a slam from a tentacle.

"Austin, you're going to ruin that trunk," sighed Laufey.

"Whatever," Austin said, gingerly lowering himself in the driver's seat. He wave goodbye to his family, turned the key in the ignition, and drove off, heading east.

About a hundred yards from the driveway, the car screeched to a halt.

"Wait!" Austin called. "I just remembered—I forgot my toothbrush!"


	2. May

Now a few short words to my reviewers, whom I thank:

To daveykins: Huh?

To anacsadder: Yes, I have heard of Dr. Carolyn Trainer, aka Lady Octopus, and yes, the name of Austin's psychologist is a sly reference. As for Mandy--she went to a different college, and did not wish to continue a long-distance relationship. Besides, if Austin was still with Mandy, what would be the whole point of this story?

Now, for the story...and read and review! Questions, comments, compliments, and (dare I say it) flames welcome!

Chapter 2: May

7:00 am. Parker residence, Queens, NY

"Dad!" May Parker called from her bedroom. "Where's my shoes? The pink ones?"

Mary Jane Watson Parker, her mother, called back from the kitchen. "Shoes don't just walk off, you know!"

Peter Parker, her father, poked his head into May's bedroom, swiftly dodging strands of sticky web May was shooting out from her wrists, gathering her things.

"Did you pack a toothbrush?" Peter asked, dodging more web as only a retired spider-powered superhero could.

May waved the toothbrush around, then stuffed it back in the suitcase. Peter ducked again as another strand of web found its target, a notebook. With an upward fling of her wrist, the notebook went sailing into the suitcase.

May then hurriedly brushed her brown hair with one hand, still webbing things into the suitcase with the other. Mary Jane poked her head in, shook her head, and sighed. She and her two-month old daughter, Gwen, were the only normal people in the family, but after twenty years of marriage, you could say she was definitely used to living with spider-people.

It had been four years.

Four years since May had found out rather unpleasantly that her father, whom she thought was an ordinary science and photojournalism teacher at the local high school, was actually none other than the legendary superhero Spider-man.

Four years since she had unexpectedly discovered her inherited powers of super-strength and speed, spider-sense, and the ability to shoot webs from her wrists.

Four years since her life changed forever.

And two years since after a crime wave, she had made a costume and assumed the identity of Spider-girl, and gone through her father's "With great power comes great responsibility" lecture.

But life goes on, doesn't it?

She had graduated from Midtown High School as valedictorian, and won a full ride science scholarship to her father and mother's alma mater, Empire State University.

May was carrying several boxes at a time into the trunk of her red Ford Taurus. The trunk refused to shut. With a pound of a spider-strong fist, the trunk complied.

"You're going to ruin that trunk, May," sighed Mary Jane.

"Whatever, Mom." May stepped into the driver's seat, waved goodbye, and drove off, heading north. However, her father had caught up to the car, and had leaped up on the roof, dangling a pair of pink tennis shoes.

"You forgot these," he said.


	3. Felicity

Now that the two "prolouge" chapters are out of the way, I will open the story with a quote from Henry Kissinger: "Power is the great aphrodisiac." Okay, so he was talking about political power, as opposed to the power you get from, say, getting bit by a radioactive spider, or having mechanical tentacles welded on your back, but I sure got your attention, didn't I? Happy New Year!

Legal reminder: I own Austin Smith and his family. However, almost all the other characters belong to Stan Lee and the other Marvel people. And any songs, poems, or plays I quote from belong to their respective owners. (phew. Now they won't sue me.)

Now, a few words to my reviewers, whom I graciously thank:

To daveykins: Not to give anything away, but the tentacled father and son pair won't be meeting up for a while yet.

To moonjava: Thank you.

To jla2snoopy: Yes, and I also gave May her father's job too. How about that?

Now, for the story! And remember, read and review! Questions, comments, compliments, and flames welcome!

Chapter 3: Felicity

Austin Smith walked toward the campus of Empire State University, wearing his backpack. Naturally, his tentacles did not appreciate this.

_**Can't we come out now?**_

_No._

**_Come on_**, they cajoled. **_Puhleeze?_**

_No, goddammit! Stay inside!_

_**But we can't breathe.**_

_You're machines. You can't breathe._

For a moment, in the one private area in the back of his head, he considered telling the tentacles to quit acting so much like people. Then, thinking of his accursed father, he thought better of the idea.

Austin was approaching the front steps. He looked at his schedule, and then looked at the huge campus. What if he got lost? What if he looked like a fool?

_**You're not a fool, Brother.**_

_Just shut up and behave._

"Oh, look, there's a cute one." Austin's mental conversations were interrupted by a blonde girl, pointing and staring at him. The blonde was nudging a brown-haired, green-eyed girl.

"Who?" asked the brunette.

"That one there! The brown-haired guy with the sunglasses and black coat."

"You mean that one there?"

"Yeah, he's gorgeous, isn't he?" asked the blonde.

_**Those females are talking about you.**_

_I know, I can hear them too._

He really didn't need comments from the peanut gallery now. He blushed. He had never been considered an Adonis—being the bastard son of a mad scientist supervillian wasn't exactly a turn-on for most girls.

"Hi," said the blonde. "The orientation's not for a few hours. Would you like to sit by us?"

Austin sat down on the steps, as carefully as he could without drawing attention to it. This was the first time girls had actually paid attention to him—besides Mandy Jennifer Wilson, who was his girlfriend in high school. She was the fifth person he had shown his tentacles to.

The blonde introduced herself as Felicity Hardy. Austin could see this was no ordinary All-American blonde—she had an exotic, almost cat-like beauty.

The brunette introduced herself as May Parker. She was smart, but a bit shy and self-conscious.

Then, a third girl, this time with wavy, deep auburn hair, showed up, screaming, "You've got a guy and you didn't let me know?" She shoved her way in. "Hi, I'm Noreen Osborn, what's your name?" she said, batting long eyelashes.

"Um, Austin Smith," he said, but he was more worried that Noreen now had her arm around his back.

_Oh God, if she feels the tentacles under there…_

Austin extricated himself, as fast as he could, from Noreen. "Excuse me, I'm sorry, I have to unpack my car!" He ran as fast as he could.

"What's wrong with him?" wondered Noreen.

_**That was a close call, Brother.**_

_**What did they want with you?**_

_Later on, we're going to have The Talk. Do you know what I mean?_

God, he wished he could get in touch with his father. But even if he could reach him somehow, there was no guarantee he'd even want to be reached by his son. On that rainy autumn night four years ago, he'd driven away the one man who could help him.

Austin didn't get to unpack properly until after orientation. In the privacy of the locked dorm room, Austin was taking a nap on the bed as his tentacles were arranging his belongings.

knock knock

Austin woke up with a start. _Oh, crap. Get inside my coat now!_

_**Aw, can't we see who's visiting you?**_

However, they hid inside his black trench coat, with the exception of one, who had poked its pincers out from beneath, staring with one blue "eye" towards the door.

_Damn you! _Austin slapped the tentacle, prompting it to go wiggling back in.

_**Sorry, Brother.**_

Austin knew by his father's example that he had to keep the actuators under tight rein. He knew that his father's mistake was to trust his tentacles too much.

Austin hurriedly tied the belt that was built into his coat. "Come in?"

It was the brunette girl.

"You're May Parker." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah. Listen—would you like to go on a date sometime? Only we have to do it when I'm, you know, available."

"From what?" asked Austin.

"Oh, my job. I'm something of a local celebrity."

Austin hesitated. There was something about this girl that was, well, different. But you don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Sure, I'd love to. Your friends are something else, though."

May laughed. "Oh, don't mind Noreen much. She gets away with things because she's richer than God. In fact, if she could steal the money from God, she would."

May gave Austin a peck on the cheek. "You're so cute. And smart, and interesting. I'd love to get to know you better." As she turned to say goodbye, Austin noticed an unidentifiable piece of fabric peeking out from her pants pocket.

There was definitely more to this girl than meets the eye.

"Wait," Austin called. "What job do you have?"

"Oh, I'm a newspaper photographer. See ya."

"See ya."

_**Another girl wants to go on a date with Brother!**_

**_I still don't exactly know what a date is…_**

_**But what happened to the Mandy Jennifer girl?**_

Not only did they have artificial intelligence, they also had a memory.

_She went to a different college. No one stays with the same girl forever. Things change._

_**But don't you humans say that the more things change, the more things stay the same?**_


	4. Otto

Chapter 4: Otto

A lone figure, shielded from the New York cold by four metal tentacles, crouched on the rooftop of a skyscraper.

It had been four years.

Four years since he found out rather unpleasantly that he had a son, a California science geek with his eyes, nose, mouth, and shock of unruly brown hair.

Four years since he took him to his New York hideout on Pier 56.

Four years since he found him sprawled facedown in his basement laboratory fused to his duplicate set of actuators.

Four years since the NYPD had arrested him, and his son looked on, silently refusing to defend him.

Four years since his life changed forever.

But life goes on, doesn't it?

With his children—four mechanical and one human--the only ones whose feelings he cared to consider, he had broken free of the brace that held his metal arms, snapped the handcuffs and leg irons, tore the jail cell door off the hinges, defeated the guards, and escaped from Riker's Island, never looking back.

He wondered where Austin was now. He would be 18 now, going to college. The doctor wondered what he was majoring in. He hoped he was majoring in physics. He looked at the red rose tattoo on his right forearm. For the first time ever since his beloved wife, Rosie, died, he had something—someone to live for. He knew he had to get in touch with Austin again.

_**Austin? **_

_**He abandoned you, Father! He let the police restrain us and haul you away! He stood there and watched!**_

_**He betrayed us! He betrayed you!**_

_Don't talk like that. I forgive him. That's what families do for each other. He is my son, and your brother._

_**He is probably in California.**_

_**But we could get to him again.**_

_**All we need to do is get an airplane.**_

_**Not an airport—**_

_**--they'd tape us up again**_

_**but we could steal a helicopter, I liked that pretty green and orange one we snagged when we first met Austin**_

**_That guy with the business suit and awful combover got pretty pissed off when we took it from his private hangar._**

_**I remember him! He's that guy on TV who says "You're fired!"**_

**_Get back on the subject, or I'll fire _you_! How are we going to help Father?_**

_It has to be legal this time, _he reminded them. _I can't go to prison again. Not when we have work to do._

_**It's been four years. Everyone has forgotten. You humans have short memories.**_

_**About as short as Britney Spears' skirt.**_

Four years hiding in a warehouse with a color TV had given the arms a god-awful taste for TV reality shows and celebrity gossip. Otto remembered distastefully how, after watching an episode of _Survivor_, the tentacles had stolen a tiki torch and a lighter out of a nearby shop and took turns voting each other off the island. Their laughter rang through his head until he threatened to unplug the TV.

_You know, I'll bet that Austin's tentacles don't behave as horrid as you,_ he grumbled to them.

As it turns out, however, he was standing right on top of his son…

"Nice view, huh?" May asked.

Austin glanced out the window. He had always been a bit nervous about heights. Like his tall, slender build (as opposed to his infamous father's short, stocky one), this was one of the things he inherited from his mother, who nearly hyperventilates every time she steps on an airplane. "Only in New York would they put restaurants on the top floors of skyscrapers."

May laughed over her plate of spaghetti. "I'm sorry I was late," she said. "There was a fire on 35th Street."

"That's, like, the fifth time you apologized," Austin said. "Really, it's okay."

"You're really not from around here are you?" May asked.

"No, California."

"The land of fruits and nuts," May laughed. "Why'd you come to Empire State, anyway? Aren't there colleges in California?"

"ESU has an excellent science program," Austin said airily. "I'm majoring in biology. All the hot button issues have a basis in biology—stem cells, genetic engineering, neogenics, therapeutic cloning. I want to take human biology into the 21st century."

To Austin's surprise, May smiled instead of being perplexed. "I always thought of the 20th Century was the Century of Physics—that was when Einstein laid the foundations for atomic bombs and nuclear fusion (Austin winced slightly—stories of experiments with nuclear fusion hit a bit too close to home), and space travel. The 21st Century is the Century of Biology—stem cells, cloning, genetic engineering. But the foundations for a focus on biology was actually when Watson and Crick deciphered the DNA code, wasn't it?"

Austin's ego burst like a soap bubble, and he could almost hear it cracking on the ground—and his head deflating. He realized this pretty brunette could easily talk as intelligently about science as about makeup.

"Enough about college—tell me about your family, Austin," May said, biting into a second plate of angel-hair pasta.

"Well, tell me about yours first," Austin replied. He doubted telling her about his father would raise him up much in her esteem.

"Well, my father worked for the Daily Bugle taking pictures of Spider-man until the Webhead retired. Then Dad got a job as a teacher, Spider-girl showed up, and I got a job taking pictures of her."

"The Daily Bugle?"

"Just a tabloid."

Austin winced. Tabloids were another subject that hit too close to home. "Oh, look, here's today's special—breaded and fried calamari."

"What's that?" Austin asked.

"Octopuses—why?"

Austin was beginning to think she was reading his mind and subconsciously trying to make him uncomfortable. "No thanks," he said, with more emphasis than he needed to.

"Why not, it's good."

"I don't like seafood."

"And my mother's an actress and model, and I've got a brother, Ben, who's three years older and serving in the Marines, and a two-month-old sister, Gwen. How about you?"

"Well, my mother's a district attorney in California, and my aunt is a journalist with the local paper. I also have a twin sister, Magni, and a cousin, Rachelle."

"What about your father?"

Austin blanched. This girl could pry the truth out of Bill Clinton.

"I never really had a father."

"Oh, come on, everyone has a father!"

Austin looked around. It was a weeknight evening, and the restaurant was not terribly busy. They were also in a private booth, and the person at the next table was avidly describing his manual colon cancer screening to whoever was on the other end of his cell phone.

"Man, I'd like to smash the heads in of the jerks who talk loudly on cell phones in restaurants."

_**Your wish is our command, Brother…**_

_Don't move a millimeter! Just because I want to do something doesn't mean I'm going to—or should._

"Promise you won't tell anyone about this?"

"Well, sure, but…"

"Not even to Felicity and Noreen?"

"Well, of course not, but…"

"Even if you broke up with me?"

"Why would I? It's not like your father's a murderer or something—"

"Promise!"

"I promise! Alright!"

Austin didn't know how to plunge into this. Mandy Jennifer had already heard the rumors; all he had to do with her was confirm them. "Well—I don't know how to say this, but my father was once a famous scientist, but something happened and…" He began to fidget. "Well, you know that thing you said…"

"Just spit it out," May advised. "If your father's dead, you'll feel better talking about it."

"Unfortunately, he's probably alive," Austin said. "My father's Doctor Octopus. There, I've said it. You probably heard of him, haven't you?"

"You're saying your dad's _Doc Ock_—"

"Shh! I'll never be able to live this down."

May smiled. "Well, since you trusted me with your family secrets," she said, "I'll trust you with mine. My father was Spider-man. He was taking pictures of himself for that tabloid. Ironic, isn't it?"

Austin remembered a line from a play that he once performed in while in junior high.

_"My only love sprung from my only hate!_

_Too early seen unknown, and known too late!_

_Prodigious birth of love it is to me,_

_That I must love a loathed enemy."_

William Shakespeare, _Romeo and Juliet_

_**We heard that.**_

_**You shouldn't trust this girl!**_

_**You don't know Spider-man! We do!**_

_Shut up and behave! I have the right to date whom I want!_

"Well my father found out about me when I was 14, kidnapped me, and I wound up with these," he admitted. He lifted up the corner of his coat to show four three-clawed pincers closed around blue lenses.

May, in turn, shot a strand of web out of her wrist, catching a breadstick.

"May—this doesn't change anything, does it?"

"Hell no. I always liked bad boys."

Austin grinned. "What will your father think, what with you dating the son of his arch nemesis?"

"Who cares?" laughed May. "I'm up for a little rebellion. Let's get out of here—I'll take you on a tour of the Big Apple—spider-style!"


	5. Jameson

A few words to my reviewers:

To Agent Silver: On your first point: Yes, and many girls love bad boys, but not all girls would have the nerve to date a guy with tentacles--or live with the possibility of having Doc Ock as a father-in-law... On your second point, the nearest Barnes and Noble is fifty miles away (curse it). But I did sneak into a B. Dalton's while my parents were shopping and bought the Spider-man 2 novelization :-)

On a second note, I'm not giving any spoilers, but watch for Noreen Osborn in the future.

Now, for the story! How will Peter react when he hears of his potential new son-in-law from an unwelcome source? Read and review, please!

Chapter 5: Jameson

9:30 am. The Daily Bugle headquarters

Peter Parker had just walked into the Daily Bugle headquarters, looking for his daughter. To his immense dismay, someone else was too—and wasn't too happy to be doing it.

"Parker!" an obnoxious man snapped in his ear, chomping on a cigar at the same time. "Where's that daughter of yours? Like father, like daughter, eh?"

Peter looked at his former boss, J. Jonah Jameson. Peter thought after all these years the publisher would have retired. He thought Jameson kept himself alive out of pure spite.

"Tell your lovely daughter she's fired, will ya?"

"Actually, she's a freelancer, like I was," Peter corrected. "You can't fire her, as you haven't technically hired her."

"Well if she was on full time I'd have fired her ass a long time ago. You ought to teach your daughter about punctuality, after you learn it first. Where is she?"

"Actually I was about to ask _you_ that, Jameson."

"What do I look like, a babysitter?" Jameson snapped. He chomped on his cigar some more as he checked the e-mail account used to send in news tips.

"This is interesting," he finally said.

"What—free Viagra?"

"Shut your mouth. Guess who Spider-girl's dating?"

"How should I know?" asked Peter—although he really should.

"She's dating Doc Ock's boy! And I heard he's got a set of tentacles just like dear ole dad! Ironic, isn't it?" He shuddered, then nervously chomped some more on his cigar, reeking of smoke. "God, what if those wall-crawlers _have kids_?!"

Betty Brant, Deputy City Editor, popped her head in. "I think it's sweet. The children of two mutual enemies falling in love—just like _Romeo and Juliet_!"

"Well, we all know how _that_ play ended," snapped Jameson. "Wanna bet on how long those two eight-legged freaks last? I'm going for two weeks."

City Editor Robbie Robertson had also overheard. "I heard you guys talking and I can't help but wondering what their, um, _bedroom life_ would be like…"

"Hoffman! Get me a barf bag, I need to projectile vomit," yelled Jameson.

Peter rapidly clenched and unclenched his fists. It was all he could do to keep from exploding and doing something he was really going to regret, either from Jameson bad-mouthing the next generation of spider-powered superheroes, or the news that his daughter was now dating the son of his mortal enemy. There was only one word to properly describe Jameson—it starts with a "p" and rhymes with "tick."

Jameson began yelling at his reporters. "Well, what are you waiting for, doom? I want you guys to dig some dirt on those two teenage menaces, and be sure to add some speculation on the _crime sprees_ they're probably planning over those candlelit dinners, got it?"

"Sure thing, Mr. Jameson," volunteered a young reporter called Jayson Blair. Jameson liked him because he was willing to write anything—but _anything_, that smeared Spider-girl, without bothering with trivialities such as research and libel laws. He even had experience making up articles for the _New York Times_.

Jameson took a few more puffs of his cigar. "Parker, how's your son? He's serving with the Marines in Iraq, isn't he?"

"Yes, and he's fine," Peter said.

"Now _there_, Parker," Jameson said, wagging an index finger in his former employee's face, "is an example of a real hero. A soldier willing to lay down his life for his country and his freedom—not some web-swinging clown in tights that can't even show their face."

Peter was on the verge of being sick. "What in hell are you standing there for, Parker? Get your butt out of here, and don't show your face around me until your precious little daughter's in tow. I want her to snap some pictures of the two lovebirds. Oh yeah—tell my almost-daughter-in-law I said hello."

Jameson leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. "I love the smell of scandal in the morning!"


	6. Peter

Now, let's get to my reviewers:

To Agent Silver: Well, sure, but I don't think Peter can _quite_ forgive Otto for holding his aunt hostage, crashing his date, kidnapping his girlfriend, helping his best friend kill him, and trying to blow up New York City with that miniature sun of his...

To jla2snoopy: Read this chapter to see how right you are!

On to the story! Last chapter, Peter Parker, the retired Spider-man, finds out from his former boss just who his daughter's dating! Now...he confronts May! Read and review!

Chapter 6: Peter

6:30 pm. Parker residence, Queens, NY, Thanksgiving Day.

Austin Smith had been May's steady for two months, but she still hadn't got around to telling her parents yet. She wasn't exactly sure how they'd react. Austin had told her he had absolutely no intentions of telling his father, and in fact never wished to see him again. Meanwhile, Peter never got around to telling May that he knew about her boyfriend. He wasn't exactly sure how she'd react. This mutual withholding of knowledge was beginning to make things tense.

It was dinner time, and Mary Jane was carving the turkey. One of the most notable events was Ben calling them from his Marine station in Iraq. The President himself had visited the troops carrying a turkey. Ben, always eager for food, had secretly webbed the whole thing right out of his hands, only to discover it was made of plastic. "Now I know it wasn't my spider-strength that made it feel so light!" he laughed. The second notable event was when May's spidey-sense kicked in, allowing her to dodge…a roll thrown by her baby sister Gwen.

"So, how's college?" asked Peter.

"It's fine, Daddy."

"Even with your…job?" Peter persisted. "Trust me, it was hard enough when I was going to college."

"It's fine," May insisted. "My boyfriend's helping me catch up with my schoolwork." Too late, she realized what she just said.

"Boyfriend?" asked MJ avidly. "What's he like?"

"Oh, brown hair, brown eyes, a little over six feet, biology major, usually wears a big black trench coat…"

"Anything _unusual_ about him?" Peter asked, his face growing stern. _Please tell me Jameson's making up his own news like he usually does._

"Of course not. Austin is a perfectly nice, normal boy—"

"—with a notorious supervillian for a father?"

MJ swallowed her coffee the wrong way and had a coughing fit. May dropped her glass of spiced apple cider and only by her spider-speed did she manage to avoid spilling any.

"Dad," she spat, "my boyfriend's father is not relevant."

"It is very much relevant when your boyfriend's father happens to be _Doc Ock_, for God's sake! I am not going to let you put yourself in danger! Your job does that for you!"

"I am _not_ in danger, Dad, and I can defend myself if I ever got into any."

"Haven't you _ever_ thought that Ock and his son may be using you to get to me?"

"Never! Austin told me that he disowned his father—and he hasn't seen him in four years!"

"Yes—and I have oceanfront property in Oklahoma!"

"Austin is _nothing like him_, okay, Dad!" May was yelling now. "You're just—judging—him because of whom his father is! Instead of looking at what's in his heart, you're looking at what's on his back!"

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Peter contended. "I am not letting an octopus' spawn date my daughter! He can find some other girl to help him with his budding criminal career!"

"He is _not_ a criminal, and I am _not_ a little girl anymore! I can date whom I want!"

With that final comment, the front door was slammed even before grace was said.

"You know she's right, Peter," Mary Jane gently rebuked. "She is old enough to pick her dates, and we both know she can defend herself."

"I just don't want her to be in danger. We've always got along, and the last time we fought like this is when she told me she was putting on my tights."

"That's what you said about me," Mary Jane reminded him. "I knew you were Spider-man all along, and I knew you loved me, but you refused to have anything to do with me because you feared I would be in danger." She reached for her husband's hand. "Think of all that time we lost together. We each have to make our own decisions."

"Both Ben and May are in danger on a daily basis. I know how that feels. I just don't want her hurt, that's all."

"I know…neither do I."

8:30 pm. The Oscorp headquarters, Manhattan, New York.

Albert poked his head in. The butler had worked for the Osborn family for decades, and he knew all too well about the Osborns' tendency to develop dangerous obsessions.

As he looked at Noreen Harriet Osborn sitting at the desk in her executive office, he knew that she was no exception.

Since her father Harry had died, Noreen had become CEO of Oscorp, the family business. With her canny business sense, she had pulled the company out of bankruptcy after several disastrously failed projects—the most notable being the super-soldier venture her grandfather Norman was involved in (it was forbidden to talk about _that_ in the Osborn house) and the equally catastrophic nuclear fusion experiment Dr. Octavius had worked on. After word got out that Oscorp's projects had been linked to both the supervillians Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus, no one had wanted to invest in Oscorp again. At Empire State University, Noreen was majoring in business, but what was the point.

Noreen's desk was practically plastered with love poems and several drawings. In one hand, Noreen held a copy of the _Daily Bugle_, featuring a fuzzy black and white picture of a girl swinging on a web, carrying a boy wearing a trench coat. In the other, she held an older tabloid, the headline reading "Doc Ock's Love Child: Tentacled supervillian may have fathered son with one night stand." Albert noticed that all of these mismatched items had one thing in common; they featured a tall, brown-haired boy wearing sunglasses and a black trench coat.

"Is that your boyfriend, Noreen?" Albert asked delicately. _Probably not. It's another guy Noreen's obsessing over. I had to bail her out of jail and muzzle the press after she stalked Orlando Bloom and tried to bribe him to marry her, I feel sorry for the poor elf…_

"Yes," she said. "A boyfriend that was stolen from me."

"Can I get you anything?"

"Yeah, get me some whiskey."

"You're 18, Noreen. You're too young to drink."

"Would you like to keep your job, Albert?" Noreen snarled.

"Very well, Noreen, I'll get it for you right away."

Noreen carefully read the tabloid articles. She was going to have Austin Smith, she had him first. And that slut May Parker who dared call herself a friend was going to really get it.

Albert came back with a bottle of whiskey. "You know, all your father obsessed over was Spider-man."

"Shut up, Albert. Now get out of here so I can drink this and go to bed."

Noreen poured herself a shot, and drank it down in one gulp. How can something that tastes so bad make you feel so good?

On the way to bed, Noreen tripped over her cat, and crashed headlong into a mirror amidst a long string of curses.

"Dammit, cat! Albert—get this dreadful cat out of here before she kills me!" Noreen yelled. Then she looked up. The mirror had broken, revealing a walk in closet of sorts. Her father and grandfather had kept this hidden in plain sight after all these years.

"What the--!" she muttered, stepping in. She first looked at the shelves filled with tiny pumpkins, and the green and purple suit hanging on a rack. Noreen stared in distaste at the ugly green goblin mask sitting on the shelf next to the suit.

_Either this is a very bad Halloween costume or Daddy was into some awfully kinky things._

Then she examined a purple metallic glider reclining on a third shelf. This was probably one of her grandfather's idiotic inventions. _Rest in peace and good riddance, Grandpa Norman._

Noreen then pulled open a drawer. It was filled with flasks of green fluid. Noreen ruled out poison. Two of the flasks only had a little fluid left in them, as if someone had already drank out of them. She pulled out a flask and stared at it. The fluid seemed to sparkle with an alien life of its own. A very odd thought came to her. _Can all this stuff actually help me get back Austin? A purple glider would definitely be a better ride than May's crappy Ford Taurus—if it works, that is._

Nothing to lose, she decided, and downed the stuff in one gulp. Then she collapsed.


	7. Laufey

A few words to my reviewers:

To Agent Silver: lol means "laughing out loud," right? And yes, history always repeats itself unless people learn from it.

To moonjava: Thank you.

I can't believe that everyone seemed to miss Ben Parker's encounter with President Bush in the last chapter. And the cameo of Jayson Blair in Chapter 5. I thought that was a pretty funny bit.

Now, for the story! In the last chapter, Noreen Osborn decides to follow her grandfather's and father's footsteps as the newest Green Goblin. Now, in this chapter, she pursues her obsession with Austin, who is putting his tentacles to good use (not _that_, any of you dirty minds that may be out there)

Chapter 7: Laufey

4:50 pm, ESU, Curt Connors Dormitory, Black Friday (also known as The Day After Thanksgiving)

Austin sat alone in his dormitory. He couldn't afford to fly all the way to California.

He was finishing his dinner—a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes—and talking on his cell phone.

"Hey, Aunt Laufey! Where's Mom?"

"The crooks aren't taking the holiday off. How's college?"

"Great. My science professor swears up and down he's going to see me accepting the Nobel Biology Prize. Hey, did you know Nobel is the guy who invented dynamite? But he didn't just want to be known for making things that blew up people, so he made up the Nobel Prizes instead."

"Ha! And the rest? Are you still reading Shakespeare?"

"Sure. I've got those annotated texts of _Hamlet_ and _The Tempest_ you sent me and they'll sure help me on the exam."

While he was talking on the cell phone, Austin's tentacles were busy scanning textbooks. One was writing notes in a notebook. Writer's cramp was the worst—that was why he had taught his tentacles to write. They had grasped the basic idea as he clasped the pincers around a pen and guided them across the paper—the hard part was teaching them to write in penmanship he could read. At first, their writing looked like chicken scratch. Finally, the tentacles were now writing in a half-decent print. Austin closed his eyes as the actuators filed away information inside his head. It was like Austin's mind had become the hard drive of a computer, storing all his class notes as his arms scanned them in. Later, at exam time, he would mentally open the files—acing his tests every time. Heh, if his professors only knew his little secret.

Austin briefly wondered whether this qualified as cheating. Oh well, he was probably putting the arms to better use than his father was—which he interpreted as robbing banks and beating up his girlfriend's father on top of speeding trains. The only thing was that the actuators couldn't type. Then they could write his papers.

"Glad to help my favorite nephew," laughed Laufey.

"Laufey—I'm your _only_ nephew."

"Yeah, right. So have you got a special girl in your life? Magni volunteered to send care packages to the troops in Iraq for a project for UC Irvine. She sent off a whole big stack of Spider-man comic books and all the junk food she could find and shipped it all off. She received a long thank-you letter from a Marine named Ben Parker, and now he wants to meet her when his tour of duty ends…"

_(small world, isn't it?)_

Austin launched into a coughing fit, after swallowing his Coke the wrong way.

"What, you need the Heimlich maneuver? Not much I can do from 3000 miles away…"

"Nah, I don't need the Heimlich. As a matter of fact, I'm dating a girl named May."

"That's a relief. I heard once that you were dating Spider-man's daughter. What I read in the Old Testament is wrong. God apparently _does_ have a sense of humor…"

This was going into very dangerous territory, and Laufey tended to treat almost everything as a joke. Austin decided to cut the conversation off.

"Look, Laufey, I _really_ need to study."

"For God's sake, Austin, the finals aren't until nearly Christmas, and _are you talking on the phone with your mouth full_?"

"Happy Thanksgiving, Laufey," he said, and hung up.

There was a sudden knock outside his door. Austin hid his tentacles back under his coat.

"Back so soon, May?" he asked.

It was another girl, strange but oddly familiar. "Close, but no cigar," she said as she broke the door open.

Austin stared at the girl standing inside the now-smashed door. His unexpected visitor was a girl with a killer figure, and she probably would have been very pretty if she weren't wearing a horrid green and purple suit and a goblin mask.

_**We must stop her before she kills you, Brother! We know she is intending to do so.**_

_No. Let me try and reason with her._

_**All we've been doing is helping you study. We just sit there and read, read, read. Then you make us write notes for you. Can't we have any fun?**_

_I know from example what you tentacles consider fun. Stay inside unless I tell you to come out._

Austin tried to humor his way out of the situation. "Um, Halloween was like, a month ago."

"Very funny, aren't you?" asked the girl.

"Wait a minute…who are you?"

"The Green Goblin, that's all you need to know. You must come with me."

"Hey, I'm studying. I really haven't got time for a fruit in a bad Halloween costume." Austin tried to sound braver than he really felt.

"Well, then I'll just have to take you by force," Green Goblin replied, shrugging. She ran at Austin, taking a swing. Austin ducked, and her fist made an oversized hole in the wall. _Oh, crap, I bet this would have never happened if I'd gone to UC Irvine with Magni..._

_**We're your only chance. She is strong, and she will kill you if she is able to punch you.**_

_Wrap around me as a shield, then. Don't hurt her._

They obeyed, unwillingly.

_**Don't you humans say the best defense is a good offense?**_

_This isn't a football game._

Two tentacles wrapped around their "brother"; the other two carried him out of the way of Green Goblin's punches. Austin didn't care that she knew his secret. With an outfit like that no one would believe her if she told anyone.

Green Goblin punched yet again, and Austin sprang out of the way with his arms. There was yet another giant hole in the wall where her fists struck.

God, he didn't know a girl could be that damned strong.

Finally Green Goblin's fist met its target. 160 pounds of boy and 66 pounds of machine went _flying_ into the wall, making an even bigger hole. She had hit him right in the head, and made several dents in his tentacles besides. He was out cold.

"Funny, I would have expected more of a fight out of you," she remarked. She carried him to the purple glider hovering outside the broken dorm window, and was off.

May Parker was walking alone down the street. Some jerk was playing their stereo too loud next to their apartment window. The song was from Green Day, her favorite band.

"I walk a lonely road,

The only road that I have ever known

Don't know where it goes,

But it's home to me

And I walk alone."

--"Boulevard of Broken Dreams"

Being a superhero was so lonely. Why hadn't she listened to her father when he tried to tell her about great power and great responsibility? She thought he was just being dumb. She already might have placed Austin in grave danger just by telling her who her father was. And if he knew what she did for an extracurricular activity, well she could just get him killed.

"I'm walking down the line  
That divides me somewhere in my mind  
On the border line of the edge  
And where I walk alone"

--"Boulevard of Broken Dreams"

Austin was so strong, but so helpless. He had never learned to use his tentacles like his father did—apparently his paranoia about the supervillian lurking inside of himself was so great he probably wouldn't even use them to defend himself.

"My only love sprung from my only hate!

Too early seen unknown, and known too late!

Prodigious birth of love it is to me,

That I must love a loathed enemy."

William Shakespeare, _Romeo and Juliet_

Her father was convinced they could never be because he was enemies with Austin's father. It was straight out of Romeo and Juliet, a superhero's daughter falling in love with a supervillian's son.

_(Well, you know how that play ended, don't you?)_

Couldn't Austin choose a different path than his father had? Could the apple fall far from the tree? Austin's father had told her father that intelligence is a gift, a privilege, to be used for the good of mankind.

_(That was before he went nuts, wasn't it?)_

May knew she had reached a crossroads—she could break up with him, and keep him out of danger, or stay with him, no matter what the cost. But the cost was too great for her to bear. Power and responsibility, blah, blah, blah. Her father was so full of wise quotations and so empty of real answers.

May was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she never heard the scream—and the mad cackle that followed it.


	8. The Tentacles

Chapter 8: Tentacles

3:15 pm, the Saturday after Thanksgiving

Felicity Hardy sat in her dormitory room, alone, checking her e-mail. Austin Smith had checked on her on Thanksgiving Day, even leaving her something to eat, since the cafeteria was closed, as were most of the stores and restaurants. That was also when she found out Austin had a dark secret.

5:30 pm, Thanksgiving Day

Felicity Hardy turned toward her dormitory door. She lived in the Felicia Hardy Dormitory, named because her mother had donated substantially to the university. Austin lived in the Curt Connors Dormitory, the dorm for the science majors.

"Austin Smith, is that you?" she said.

"Shit, how did you know?"

"You breathe too loud. And I can hear those cheap sneakers from a mile off. Brought some food?"

Austin let himself in, frowning. She must have super-sensitive hearing and smell. He had practically held his breath trying to surprise her. He was wearing his backpack, and he carried a package of buns, a pack of deli turkey, a can of cranberry sauce, and a box of mashed potatoes.

"I heard you couldn't make it home for Thanksgiving," he said.

"Actually, my mother was hosting a big Hardy Foundation Thanksgiving catered dinner. I ran away."

"Why? Wasn't there caviar?"

"I get sick of caviar. And I hate hanging around a bunch of stiff suits that are richer than God. Mom made me say hello to this Trump guy with a god-awful comb over. Not only was he was reeking of hairspray, he grabbed my ass and then he told me he'd marry me if I was just a few years older!"

Austin laughed. "And what did you tell The Donald?"

"I said, "Mr. Trump—you're fired!' and walked off. Mom chewed me out, saying that I had just made fun of one of the Hardy Foundation's biggest investors, blah, blah. With Mom, it's Hardy Foundation this and Hardy Foundation that. So I just ran off. So why aren't you home?"

Austin smiled. "All my family's in California. Can't afford to fly, so I decided to stay here. But I've got Thanksgiving dinner, but I'll need to cook it."

"Where? The cafeteria's empty."

Austin jangled a set of keys. "I've snagged the keys to the science lab. We'll improvise."

Felicity smiled. It was so sweet of him to bring Thanksgiving dinner for a girl who couldn't make it home for Thanksgiving, and wasn't even his girlfriend. Austin was awfully nice. And to think the _Daily Bugle_ claimed he was Doctor Octopus' son. J. Jonah Jameson would sell his soul to the devil to sell more papers.

They had arrived in the lab, and Austin plugged in and lit the Bunsen burner, using it, a wire frame, and a ceramic container to cook the mashed potatoes.

"Ew, Austin, you never know what radioactive stuff might have been in there last."

Austin just laughed. "I've read the comic books. The only thing that happens when you are exposed to radioactivity—" He turned the burner off and removed the dish of mashed potatoes. "—is you get superpowers." Austin began slicing the buns, and began piling them with deli turkey. He sliced up the cranberry sauce, and layered that on the turkey.

Austin's backpack lay on the counter. "I had to miss biology last Thursday," Felicity said. "Can I borrow your notes?"

"Sure. Have you seen Leonardo DaVinci's _Vitruvian Man_?"

"The naked guy spread in a circle?"

"Yup. That's on the cover of the science notebook."

Felicity took the notebook out of the backpack by grabbing the metal spiral. Thus, a thinner, smaller green notebook slipped out from inside. Felicity's attention was diverted from the biology class notes, and chose a page at random in the small notebook to flip to. Felicity noticed that Austin's notes were often in two entirely different sets of handwriting: one a flowing cursive, and one a far more casual print. The green notebook, however, was all in the cursive.

The page she chose was dated November 6th, four years ago.

_(didn't curiosity kill the cat?)_

"The police have just returned me to California, after my father kidnapped me…"

"Dear, dear! How queer everything is today! I wonder if I've changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is, 'Who _am_ I?" Ah, that's the puzzle!" –Lewis Carroll, _Alice in Wonderland_…

"I'm beginning to hear their voices more often. Four voices that almost seem hypnotically musical, in a way. And the oddest thing, they insist on calling me their brother…"

"I'm beginning to wonder why I didn't do anything that night, why I just stood there and let him get arrested. In all practicality, even though he's a criminal, he's also the only man who could have helped me deal with them…"

November 7th

"Rachelle told me that I pinned Brandon McCloud up to the lockers and slugged him in the face. The only thing is, I can't remember doing it, I think they're making me act irrationally and blocking it from my memory…"

"I honestly don't want to end up like him, I want to be a good guy, but if I don't learn to control them, I fear it will be inevitable…"

November 8th

"Are they controlling me, or am I still piloting the boat? I'm beginning to feel like a marionette attached to four metal strings…"

"I hate looking in the mirror. When I look in the mirror, I don't see me, I see my father. And when I see him, I don't see Dr. Octavius, I see Dr. Octopus. And when I see him, I see the person I could become…"

"They are telling me that I must go after Brandon; punish him for what he did to me since I was three years old. And when I tell them no, they scream at me and give me raging headaches that last for days. They tell me not to question them, that they know what's best for me. And then they hug me, and tell me that they love me, and always will. They ask me, "Would we lead you wrongly, Brother?" My rational mind says yes, but it seems to fall for their brainwashing every time…"

"My mother and aunt want to drag me to a psychologist, and I've even contemplated suicide, for God's sakes. But will they let me? My father drowned himself one time, but they swam him up to shore, they wouldn't even let him die…"

Felicity closed the book, horrified and sympathetic at the same time. So the rumors were true. And Jameson was right—they did have more in common than their looks.

Austin held the two sandwiches. "Ready to eat?" He removed his sunglasses, which had become foggy. This removal revealed huge brown eyes, red-rimmed with pain, fatigue, and grief. Felicity realized for the first time that he'd been struggling against himself for years. Austin had kept the upper hand—so far.

_(but for how much more?)_

And Felicity knew that whatever this poor boy must have gone through, his father must have suffered a thousand times worse.

Felicity decided to study, sipping some warm milk. She always liked warm milk, and she didn't know why. If she ever talked to her mother, she would have found out this liking for milk was linked to her extraordinary talent in her gymnastics classes as a little girl, her sensitive night vision, hearing, and smell, and the fact that she was stronger and a better athlete than all the girls she knew, with the exception of her best friend May Parker.

Felicity's surfing was interrupted by the shriek of a door being torn off its hinges.

"What the f--!" she screamed. A shorter, stockier, older version of her friend was now leaning in the doorway. There was no mistake who he was.

"Doctor Octopus!" she shrieked. "I'll call the police, I swear I will!"

"But why?" Otto asked. "I am simply seeking information. I do not intend to do anything _criminal_—at this moment. Don't force me to. Then again, I'll commit some petty theft while I'm here." Otto swiped a package of Oreos off the shelf with a tentacle, then unwrapped and ate them with his real hands. There was a reason he wasn't the slimmest supervillian in the city.

"You—are _breaking and entering_!"

"I suppose you are technically right," the doctor said, looking at the wreck of a dorm room around him. "The door is broken, and I have entered your residence. Where is my son?"

"You're nuts," she lied. "I didn't know you had one."

"You're lying," he snapped. "Does the name Austin Smith ring a bell?"

"Yes, I know about him—he's the son you kidnapped and welded a set of tentacles to! You made that poor boy a monster—like you!"

She saw she was hurting his feelings. She didn't care.

Felicity wanted to hate him. She really did. But as she looked at him some more, and thought, she only saw a pathetic man. A deadbeat who abandoned his son for fourteen years, and a man who couldn't even stand up to the machines he created. A coward who was weaker than his own son.

"I'm not telling you _anything_!" Felicity shouted. "He's my friend!" Unexpectedly, a tentacle grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up in the air.

"Stop it!" Otto shouted, pulling the tentacle off with his real hands. "Any friend of my son is a friend of mine."

"He made me a turkey sandwich on Thanksgiving, but I haven't seen him for over a day. He may be with his girlfriend."

"What girlfriend? Who is she?"

"None of your business—_Doctor_!"

"_Who is she_? Austin's life may depend on it!"

"May Parker," she said heavily.

"Parker?" the villain repeated. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

"Who cares? And don't even ask me where she is."

Otto turned to leave. "By the way—what is Austin majoring in?"

"Biology," she said.

"Well, you can't win them all," he said. And then he was gone.

_Very strange_, Felicity thought.

May walked to Austin's dorm room. There was no Austin, but there were three huge holes in the wall, and the fragments of what must have been little orange balls. And smoke—a _lot_ of it. And a piece of paper lay shivering on the debris.

May picked it up.

"May Parker:

I have information about the whereabouts of your friend Austin Smith. Kindly meet me at the clock tower, at sunset tonight, to discuss this information. You must not discuss this with anyone—not even your father."

There was no signature.

May stuffed the note in her pocket. She knew what she must do. She pulled her civilian clothes off, leaving them on Austin's bed. She put on her mask—and jumped out of the window, preparing to trust her friend's life in the hands of a stranger.


	9. Noreen

Now, to my reviewers:

To jla2snoopy: Thank you. In the comics, Doc Ock always did have a dry, sardonic sense of humor...

To Agent Silver: Not a point I consciously intended to make, but yeah. The reason that even Austin sees his father as a villian is that he never knew him. Everything he knows about his father he got from tabloids, the grapevine, and his Aunt Laufey, who may or may not be biased because of her friendship with Spider-man (see The Octopus' Spawn--oh wait, you already did). And the idea of Austin becoming May's partner-in-crime-fighting is intriguing. I must look into that.

Now, for the story! Will Austin's father and girlfriend get to him before the evil Girl Goblin does? Read and review, because after this there's only one chapter left!

Chapter 9: Noreen

Austin woke up, stretched—and bumped his head, hard, on something as he tried to stand up. He felt the surface with his hands. Glass.

At first thought, he thought his tentacles were sleeping in. However, he realized that each of them had been securely bound by their pincers to the walls of this—cage?

_**Help us, Brother!**_

_**She has us tied up—and she has you locked in a cage!**_

Austin felt the walls some more. He seemed to be in some kind of glass transparent column. From here, he could see a desk piled high with pictures, drawings, writings and tabloids.

_**We're stuck!**_

_Well—can't you break yourselves out? You're much stronger than I am._

**_This is _not_ a good position to be in, Brother._**

_**If but one of us were free, we could all get out.**_

_I just thought of something. Hold still._

Austin slipped his Swiss Army knife, a gift from his Aunt Laufey, out of his pocket. He always wondered why there were Swiss Army knives when Switzerland was always neutral in a war. Pulling out the saw attachment, he began to saw away the bonds of the upper right tentacle. From there, it was an easy matter for the rest to get free.

_**Ah! That's better!**_

_Good for you. Now look and see what's on that desk._

The tentacles' cameras focused on the papers haphazardly sprawled on the desk. Austin closed his eyes, concentrating. There were multiple drawings of him, and an array of love poems. At least a dozen bags of fancy designer clothes, piled up indiscriminately, surrounded the desk. The most significant find, however, were four tabloids.

_Focus in on the tabloids. What do they say?_

One was the four-year-old "Doc Ock's Love Child" tabloid.

The other two were copies of the_ Daily Bugle_. One had the headline, "Freaks of a Feather Flock Together: Spider's Daughter and Octopus' Son an Item?"

The _Daily Bugle_—impartial journalism at its best.

The third featured a picture of his kidnapper. The headline read: "Girl Goblin Wreaks Havoc on the Big Apple!"

The fourth also featured his kidnapper. The headline read: "Girl Goblin's Rampage Continues—Department Store Robberies Continue, Thousands of Dollars of Designer Clothes Stolen."

Whoever owned this desk was clearly obsessed with him. And whoever owned this desk knew the Girl Goblin.

_What am I doing here? What do they want? Do I have a lovesick stalker? _

_**We always said you were handsome…**_

_**Do not worry about that, Brother. We are going to escape!**_

With a monumental thrust, the tentacles had smashed through the glass window. Austin was free.

And at any rate, he was going to get some answers one way or another. Green Goblin was standing right in front of him.

"If there were no words  
No way to speak  
I would still hear you  
If there were no tears  
No way to feel inside  
I'd still feel for you…"

--Martina McBride, "Valentine"

May sat on the ledge of the clock tower. The sun was going to set any minute. No one had come yet. She briefly wondered whether she had walked into a trap. At any rate, she was going to get some answers.

Someone was walking up to her.

"Austin?" May asked.

"No, but people say there is a certain family resemblance."

"Doc Ock!" May screamed. "What do you want?"

"I know where he is. I just ask for one favor."

"Don't even ask where my father is. You've tormented him enough."

"May, where do you get your crazy ideas? At this point in my life, I don't care where your father is or what he's doing. However, I do need you to work with me."

May's eyes narrowed. "And why should I work with _you_?"

"Because, young lady, we are going to have to put our common affection for Austin Smith ahead of our past. You are going to have to trust me."

May still hesitated.

"Come on—do I look like I would kill my son's girlfriend?" He held out a gloved hand. "Truce?"

"Truce." May agreed. "Which arm should I shake?"

Austin's tentacles were at the ready, and shards of glass lay at his feet. But instead of attacking, Green Goblin extended a hand. "Congratulations! You've passed the test with flying colors!"

Now Austin was really thrown for a loop. "And what is _that_ supposed to mean?!"

"I wanted to see how fast you could break out. From the time you came to, you took just twenty minutes—but you wasted time looking at what was on my desk."

_(why did that voice sound so familiar?)_

"Who are you?" Austin demanded. "Take off your mask and let me see who you are."

"Fine…but you're not going to like it!" Green Goblin took off the mask, revealing an auburn-haired beauty.

"_Noreen Osborn?!_" Austin spat. "You _witch_!"

"So where is he, _Doctor_?" May asked.

"Oscorp," he said.

"What business would Austin have there?" she inquired.

"I was working for them long before the fusion reactor experiment," Otto confessed. "I knew about Norman Osborn's supersoldier project. And we all know what became of that."

"Both Norman and Harry Osborn are dead, Doctor," May replied. "The Green Goblin can't have taken Austin."

"_Au contraire_, May," he responded. "Can you think of no one connected to the Osborns who happens to be obsessed with Austin?"

"Noreen?!" May croaked. "My best friend? Shit!"

"Well?" Otto looked at May. "We've got someone to save."

"Who said 'we'?" May asked archly. "You're usually the reason someone needs saved in the first place. Who said you were coming?"

"I did. Like it or not, he's my son."

"Let's go, then. Hope you can keep up."

"Funny you should call me that," Noreen said. "Wasn't it the witch who put Ariel in the cloven pine in _The Tempest_?"

"For that thou wast a spirit too delicate

To act her earthy and abhorr'd commands;

Refusing her grand hests, she did confine thee

By help of her most potent ministers,

And in her most unmitigable rage,

Into a cloven pine; within which rift

Imprisoned, thou didst painfully remain…"

"Well, I hope I'm not going to be stuck here a dozen years like Ariel," Austin said. "What do you want from me? My family's all the way in California, and they're not terribly rich."

"Oh, I'm not thinking ransom," Noreen said. "I ask for nothing more and nothing less than your love."

"Man, if you think I'm dating a crazy girl in a bad Halloween costume, you're…"

"Nuts? We've already established that." Noreen laughed. "Don't you see? I'm the only one who knows what it's like!"

"What?"

"To have supervillian fathers! To inherit powers from them! To embrace their legacies!"

"'_Embrace their legacies'_?" Austin repeated. "Speak for yourself. You're nuts."

"Yeah, I know. You could have been greater than your father. But May Parker has turned you from who you are!"

"Noreen, I'm not my father. I'm not a criminal."

"You _think_ you're not, but you just haven't realized it yet. It's in your blood, and it's on your back. We could join forces—and together we can hold the entire Big Apple under our sway. What do you think?"

Austin's tentacles were transfixed on Noreen. They were actually listening to her crazy talk.

_**Listen to Noreen.**_

**_The girl is right!_**

_Shut up. I will never be a criminal—never._

"I think you're living in a fantasy," Austin retorted. "I was never interested in you. I love May Parker."

"You think you love her," Noreen replied. "You and May will never make it. What if you wish to marry? You'll just be asking for in-law problems."

"I'm not concerned about that."

"Hm. If you'd chosen to work with me, I'd have gotten great things out of you. I would have gotten things out of you that you didn't even know you had. Too bad your loyalty to that slut May Parker cost you your life. Because if I can't have you, no one will." She drew the ceremonial dagger out of its sheath hanging on the wall, the very dagger her father had used when he attempted to kill May's father.

Right then, as the Oscorp office had become a comedy set, Doctor Octopus and Spider-girl crashed through the walls simultaneously, obviously looking for Austin. They were both in a fighting mood.

However, Green Goblin did not care to fight three to one odds. She put her mask back on, grabbed her purple glider, and with a parting, "Smell ya later, suckers!" she was flying out the window before anyone could do anything.


	10. Epilouge: SpiderGirl

Now, to the reviewers' box...

To jla2snoopy: Don't worry, there will be something coming up. It won't be an Austin story, but it will be a Doc Ock story. Due to strict parents, resuming college, a needy baby brother, and limited spare time, the updates might take a little longer, but The Trickster will not fail you!

To Agent Silver: I don't remember that--I've been so hung up on Spider-man 2 (and its villian, wink wink) that it's been such a long time since I saw the first movie.

Oh yeah, I am considering making the Austin series into a trilogy. As soon as my Muse visits me again and I get to write it.

Now to the story! As my tale draws to a close, what will the future hold for the two star-crossed lovers? Read and review while you can, because this is the last chapter!

Chapter 10: Epilogue: Spider-Girl and Octopus Junior

"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,  
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind."  
--William Shakespeare, _A Midsummer Night's Dream_

8:00 am. The Daily Grind, a café near Empire State University.

May stirred her cappuccino with her biscotti. "Austin, let's get to the point. I love you, but I have to break up with you. I can't be selfish."

"Selfish?" Austin asked. "You're the most unselfish person I know."

"Don't you understand what happened a few days ago? I'm Spider-girl, and like my father did, I will always have enemies. Any boyfriend I have will be in grave danger. I love you too much for you to be kidnapped or killed."

"I can defend myself, you know."

"And our fathers—let's face it, they've never been the best of friends."

"What about them?"

"I had a fight with my father because I was dating you," May confessed. "We smoothed it over, but he still isn't thrilled."

"Your father should respect that we are able to make our own decisions. So should mine."

"You _never told your father yourself_, Austin? He just found out from my friends?"

"Why does everyone insist on calling him my father, just because I look like him, May? What he did was knock my mother up when they were both drunk. Then he didn't show up or even try to contact me for fourteen years. What kind of a father is that? I'm not ready for a relationship with him, and I'm not sure I ever will. The question is: will I be able to control myself?"

"What do you mean by that?" asked May.

Austin sighed heavily. "Noreen was right. It's in my blood, and it's on my back."

"You didn't ask for what happened to you four years ago. Everyone has choices over what they what they want to do with their life. There was something your father told my father once—that intelligence is a gift, a privilege—"

"—to be used for the good of mankind," Austin completed.

"Maybe you will do that someday, Austin," May said. "You're not your father."

"What happened to Noreen?"

"No one knows. She pulled out of college yesterday and no one's seen her since. She was like a sister to me. Let's not talk about that."

Austin took her hand. "Whatever dangers you face, I want to face them with you. No matter what."

Then Austin glanced at the next table. The newest edition of _The Daily Bugle_ was laying on it. There was yet another picture of Noreen, in her Green Goblin getup. The headline read: "Girl Goblin Strikes Again: Two Dozen Designer Dresses Stolen From Shopping Mall"…

"On the way down  
I saw you  
And you saved me from myself  
And I won't forget the way you loved me  
On the way down  
I almost fell right through  
But I held onto you"

--Ryan Cabrera, "On the Way Down"

And so they walked down to the university, spider's daughter and octopus' son, facing the future with odds stacked against them, hand in hand, going their solitary ways.


End file.
